Facebook asked to pull Scrabulous
Posted by Tom Warren on 17 January 2008 - 08:47 · 12 comments & 6633 views
About the Author
Full name: Tom Warren
Forum name: creamhackered
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Full name: Tom Warren
Forum name: creamhackered
Contact: via forum PM
Submissions: Normal · Headline
Slashdot It!
Submit to reddit
Submit to blinklist
Bookmark on del.icio.us
Add to furl
Share on Facebook
Add to Windows Live
Add to Google- Advertisement
-
-
#1 Posted by xfodder on 17 Jan 2008 - 09:51
- jeez isnt the big corporate machine running overtime, god i hate corporations
-
(1 reply)
#2 Posted by krasch on 17 Jan 2008 - 10:39
- And shouldn't they be going after the developers? The application wasn't made by Facebook...
-
#2.1 Posted by FloatingFatMan on 17 Jan 2008 - 11:10
- Quote - (krasch said @ #2)And shouldn't they be going after the developers? The application wasn't made by Facebook...
Maybe that's why they've only requested then to remove it, instead of slapping them with a big lawsuit?
-
(3 replies)
#3 Posted by Magallanes on 17 Jan 2008 - 12:05
- When scrabble patent will expire? or is a patent "ad eternum" ? (exist such thing?)
-
#3.1 Posted by Thygod on 17 Jan 2008 - 14:33
- Actually, the patent is not the problem, the trademark is. Scrabble is a trademark and Scrabulous is a name based on the original trademarked name. If they called the game "Little virtual wodden letters in a spelling board" then Mattel probably would not have cared. People, however, would not know what the hell that application was. People automatically know what Scrabulous is because they know what Scrabble is, and that is where the problem arises.
When you have a trademark you are obligated to protect it, otherwise the name may become ubiquitous and public domain. That is the reason why you will sometimes see Xerox putting out ads saying stuff like "When you want a copy of a document it is not correct to say could you Xerox it for me?"
Tivo has had the same problem, Kleenex, and many other brand names and trademarks that people automatically know what you are talking about.
In the United States copyrights expire and it is in the Constitution that they should expire. However the founding fathers forgot to include how much time it takes for copyrighted material to become public domain leaving that decision to the US Congress and our friend Mr. President. Right know a copyrighted material goes public domain 70 years after the death of the original author. This term has been expanded over the years and some people claim that it gets expanded everytime Mickey mouse is about to become public domain.
All this info pertains to US and it may be different in other countries. In the original story it says that Mattel owns the rights to everywhere except the United States where it is Hasbro. -
#3.2 Posted by krasch on 17 Jan 2008 - 14:46
- Thygod is right here, Adobe as well actively fights the use of "Photoshopping" to refer to image manipulation.
-
#3.3 Posted by +Dakkaroth on 17 Jan 2008 - 17:01
- As Google doesn't very much like the "Google it" phrase.
-
(2 replies)
#4 Posted by Chipshop on 17 Jan 2008 - 12:52
- How about Hasbro and Mattel get together and buy the app from the developer, how good a promotional tool would that be! I guess they don't care about promoting their business
-
#4.1 Posted by krasch on 17 Jan 2008 - 14:48
- Now THERE's an idea...
And hire the developers to run it for you at the same time. -
#4.2 Posted by Tha Bloo Monkee on 18 Jan 2008 - 03:44
- +1. Even still. I don't see why they would care because I doubt the makers are making money. If anything it's just promoting the game!
-
#5 Posted by Justin- on 17 Jan 2008 - 16:40
- I hope they don't pull it, and I doubt they will. Even the Facebook employees play it.
-
#6 Posted by AJCrowley Esq on 17 Jan 2008 - 16:57
- Smooth move.
I hadn't played Scrabble for years, but I got into it on Facebook.
Ever since, I've been looking to buy the board game version, but can only find either a travel version, or "Super Scrabble". Maybe they should consider that this might actually promote their product, then make some kind of effort to get it on the shelves.
The Facebook add-on has proved hugely popular on the social network site and regularly racks up more than 500,000 daily users. Lawyers for toy makers Hasbro and Mattel say Scrabulous infringes their copyright on the board-based word game. The move has sparked protests by regular fans of Scrabulous keen to keep the add-on running.
Scrabulous is currently one of Facebook's ten most popular applications - little programs that Facebook members can add to the profiles they maintain on the site. The request to remove the add-on came from both Hasbro and Mattel because ownership of the Scrabble trademark is split between the two. Hasbro owns rights to the game in the US and Canada while Mattel has rights everywhere else in the world.
Facebook told the PA newswire that it had no comment to make at this stage.